i know there are some topics on this already. ive used the alacarte program to edit but doesnt let you remove the program at the top of the menu. i want to be able to completely edit this menu. what's the best way.

its crazy how hard they make it to edit the menu. ill check out xfce.org.

Yea thats why many will use the main menu (can switch on right click preprences). 'Alacarte will work on whole menu'

Becase you can't edit top level menu with alacarte I sometimes activate 'other' change name and edit add/subtract itiems to make a sort of sub menu.I do it usually to make a 'favorites menu. The App Finder (change icon in launcher in a panel) works with the main menu if you make a 'favorites' sub menu and some other you can get a 'MintMenu feel' (even a netbook big Icon feel). Unfortunatly can,t change bacground or back transparent (as far as I know)

Here is a workaround to remove those top level entries in the menu that I use.

Using your menu as an example we will remove "Run Program..."

First, make sure you can see hidden files in your File Manager. I'm assuming Thunar so Ctrl + h to see them.Next, open Thunar and navigate to /usr/share/applicationsLocate the entry "Run Program...". Right click on it and choose "Copy".Now navigate to your Home directory to .local/share/applications. Notice that it's .local with a "." (hidden file/folder). If the folder "applications" does not exist then create it. Right click in the folder and choose "Paste".Right click on the file you just copied and choose "Open With > Open with what ever your text editor is. Perhaps gedit?Go down to the bottom of the file and add a new line. In that new line add the text: NoDisplay=trueSave the file. Check your menu and "Run Program..." should no longer be visible.To get it back again delete the line you just added or delete the file.

"Run Program..." is an easy example because the file name is the same as what you see in the menu. Some don't have the same name but you can usually recognize them buy their icon.

I solved that problem in two ways. In the /usr/share/applications folderI just trashed the desktop files I didn't want in the menu any longer. Very effective.orI added the instruction Gene gave you "NoDisplay=true" to any desktop files I had qualms about trashing.I didn't duplicate any files in /.local, I directly worked in the /usr/share/applications folder.As you go, you may want to open nm-connection-editor.desktop file with gedit and comment the instruction "OnlyShownIn=GNOME". The missing nm-connection-editor application will immediately turn up in the Xfce Settings menu where it should have been.

Incidently, once you've understood how the desktop files work, you don't need alacarte at all.

I read this thread, and reviewed the pages http://standards.freedesktop.org/deskto ... nized-keys and http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu . I tried editing ~/.config/menus/xfce-applications.menu, rebooted, and nothing changed. As a test, I changed BOTH xfce-aplications.menu files (in ~/.config/menus and /etc/xdg/menus), rebooted, and *still* no joy. I was about to lookfor some kind of cache, when, on closer inspection, I noticed that the XML layout of the original xfce-applications.menu did *not* match the menu being displayed; specifically, the <layout> section did not match. This is the section from xfce-applications.menu;

Edit forgot to say what you did work on main menu. But I would first switch to using main menu then see what want to delete . itlsys look at 'app finder', what you did had probably effected it. Look at the all (in app finder the added 'menu item are listed first (no category) then the accessories, then graphics, ect.

PMFJI and I hope I have not misunderstood or overlooked something. I wanted to tidy my LMDE/XFCE menu, and after trying in vain the offered 'Settings/Main Menu' program, found the following via the Xfce Help then web site:-http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menuNote very carefully the introductory conditions...

if you change to using the default menu (notMint's custom menu) you can add/subtract most everything.And if use 'app finnder as menu, you can delete showing the setting and system catagories then use mintconfig-xfce (in LMDE Repos) for those (drag & drop to last tab whats not their)My panel has a launcher to 'xfce control center', followed by a launcher to 'appfinder (in place of menu) not showing setting or system categories, then a directory menu (panel applet)

Okay, I've found an easy way to edit XFCE's main menu using a little app called LXMenuEditor (LXME). It works just fine with XFCE's menu too!

Unfortunately, LXME (homepage here) isn't in Mint's official software selection, so you'll need to download and install it yourself. This is not hard! Rather than assuming anything about your experience level (a common problem on these forums, ahem), I'll explain how, step-by-step:

ander111 wrote:Okay, I've found an easy way to edit XFCE's main menu using a little app called LXMenuEditor (LXME). It works just fine with XFCE's menu too!...Cheers, Ander

This follows the line that I myself posted earlier in the thread (without the nitty-gritty). I congratulate you on a super response, which explains every step simply & clearly. Many well-intentioned instructions beg questions; yours does not.Perhaps LinuxMint-XFCE might consider including this LXMenuEditor as standard.

lewyssmith wrote:I congratulate you on a super response, which explains every step simply & clearly. Many well-intentioned instructions beg questions; yours does not.

Thanks! I'm a technical writer, and dislike ambiguity. It can be a curse, but at least it's a helpful one. :?)

lewyssmith wrote:Perhaps LinuxMint-XFCE might consider including this LXMenuEditor as standard.

Makes sense to me. The only odd thing is, LXMenuEd's site doesn't mention XFCE at all. Even if the XF and LX menus use the same syntax, wouldn't they be in different locations? Is LXMenuEditor's author going to the extra trouble to maintain XFCE compatibility and not even mentioning it?

Anyway, that'd be my only concern were LXME to be added to Mint XFCE... I'd be interested to know if the XFCE compatibility was intentional and would continue. I've emailed the author a thank-you but haven't heard from him yet.

Anyway, that'd be my only concern were LXME to be added to Mint XFCE... I'd be interested to know if the XFCE compatibility was intentional and would continue. I've emailed the author a thank-you but haven't heard from him yet.

It works because both LXDE & XFCE are trying to conform to freedesktop.org standards.

LanceHaverkamp wrote:It works because both LXDE & XFCE are trying to conform to freedesktop.org standards.

Right—the standards for desktop entries, and menus (which are, or should be, built from desktop entries). But does that mean the files and folders themselves would have the same paths and names between desktop environments? That's what I don't get.

I think it's showing the standard menu categories (menu folders) as well as the categories your menu is actually using.

Because there are so many Linux distributions (Mint being just one of them), there's a movement to establish standards between them so they'll be more consistent, and so proven desktop practices can be shared between distributions... In other words, so the authors of the various distributions don't have to "reinvent the wheel".

One of these proposed standards is to specify how menus are organized, and how the files that make up menus are written. And part of that particular effort is a set of app "categories", which appear like folders on a main menu (Accessories, Graphics, Office, etc.).

I think LXMenuEditor is set up to show all these default categories, to encourage people to use them. You see the same thing in desktop systems that do include menu editors (KDE, Gnome etc.).

In LXMenuEditor, if any of the menu categories you see contain no entries—or if the entries they contain aren't set to be Visible—those categories don't appear in your menu. In other words, they're just suggestions.

OK, I figured out why Mint is using its custom menu instead of the standard menu: there's a configuration option. If you go down to the panel and right click on the "Menu" button, then select "Properties" from the pop-up, you'll see the properties of the menu launcher. Mint has "Use custom menu file" set by default. If you click on the "Use default menu" radio button, you'll see the default menu, and the freedesktop.org documentation about how menus are created are exactly right.